Jew is a term used to denote both followers of a religion and members of an ethnicity (adj. Jewish).
Judaism is a complex combination of a religion and a non-exclusive ethnic group. It has a way to allow others to join through a formal process of "conversion", usually a very difficult process. The religious belief is detailed in Judaism; this article discusses Jews as an ethnic group.
In an ethnic sense, the Jews are members of the people, or "nation", that traces its ancestry from the Biblical patriarch Abraham through his son Isaac and in particular Jacob, Isaac's son, as well as to those who subsequently joined them over the course of history as converts. Ethnic Jews include both "Observant Jews", meaning those who practice the Biblical and Rabbinic laws, known as the mitzvot, and those who, while not practicing Judaism as a religion, still identify themselves as Jews in a cultural or ethnic sense. These are sometimes called "Secular Jews".
Etymology
English language origins
There are competing views as to the origin of the name "Jew". The most common view, among English speakers, is that the Middle English word "Jew" is from the Old French qiu, earlier juieu, from the Latin iudeus from the Greek. The Latin simply means Judaean, from the land of Judaea. There is some scholarly controversy over whether Judaea is a patronymic or if it was a purely geographic term of uncertain Semitic origin. If indeed it is patronymic, it corresponds to the Hebrew y'hudi (or yehudi) "Judah" in English, a member of the Twelve Tribes of the Children of Israel — i.e., Jacob's sons. According to Genesis, Judah was the fourth son of the patriarch Jacob, from whom the tribe descended. The Old English equivalent was Iudeas, meaning "Judean".
Judaic origins
Jews themselves hold scholarly traditions that trace the name "Jew" to Genesis chapter 29 verse 35, which says that Judah's mother — the matriarch Leah — named him Judah because she wanted to praise God for giving birth to so many sons: "She said, 'This time let me praise (odeh) God,' and named the child Judah (Yehudah)." Thereafter in the Biblical narrative, Judah vouchsafes the Jewish monarchy, and the Israelite kings David and Solomon derive their lineage from Judah. Indeed, there is the tradition that the "Judaeans" (Jews) are named for him, their ancient tribal ancestor.
In Hebrew, the name "Judah" contains the four letters of the Tetragrammaton — the special, holy, and ineffable name of the Jewish God. The very holiness of the name of Judah attests to its importance as an alternate name for "Israelites" that it ultimately replaces.
Other theories
An alternative and much less common view is that "Jew" is from "Jewry" from the Greek evrei meaning "Hebrew", which some speculate comes from the ancient Egyptian hiberu which meant "stranger". Under the latter view, Abraham, Israel and other patriarchs are regarded as Jews while under the former only the descendants (ethnically or physically) of the Judaeans from the Kingdom of Judah would be Jews, strictly speaking. In the Hebrew language the word "Hebrew", ivri, means "one who 'passes' over" as did the patriarch Abraham who "passed over" from being a gentile to becoming a "convert" to the faith of Monotheism.
Talmudic citations
In one place in the Talmud, the word Israel(ite) refers to somebody who is Jewish but does not necessarily practice Judaism as a religion: "An Israel(ite) even though he has sinned is still an Israel(ite)." All the same, a Jew remains a Jew whether he practices his religion or not. In modern English, "Israelite" is not commonly used in any context, but one can refer to "religious Jews" or "secular Jews."
Who is a Jew?
Jewish law
Halakha, Jewish law, defines a Jew as someone who is either
- the child of a Jewish mother, known as matrilineal descent, or
- a person who converts to Judaism in accord with Jewish law, known as a ger or ger tzedek ("righteous convert") and whom the Bible commands be accepted and loved by the Jewish community.
This standard is mandated by the Talmud, the record of Oral Law that explicates the Torah, the text on which Jewish law is based. According to the Talmud, this standard has been followed since the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai some 3,300 years ago. Non-Orthodox Jewish historians claim that this standard has been followed only for the last 2,000 years.
Common misconceptions
Mere belief in the principles of Judaism does not make one a Jew. Similarly, non-adherence by one who is Jewish to Jewish principles of faith does not make one lose one's Jewish status. However, the modern Israeli legal definition of a Jew excludes those who have joined other religions.
Reform and Recontructionist Judaism
In the last half of the 20th century, two theologically liberal (primarily American) Jewish groups — Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism — have allowed people who do not meet these criteria to define themselves as Jews. They no longer require converts to follow traditional Jewish procedures of conversion, and they accept a person as a Jew even if their mother is non-Jewish, so long as the father is a Jew. This is known as patrilineal descent.
This has thus resulted in a serious schism among the Jewish people; today many Reform Jewish and secular Jewish-Americans born from originally gentile mothers consider themselves Jews, although they are not considered Jewish by Orthodox Jews, Conservative Jews, and even by many Reform Jews outside of the United States.
Some Reform Jews view Judaism as a religion alone, and thus they view Jews who convert to another faith as non-Jews. In contrast, traditional rabbinic Judaism views Judaism as a peoplehood, and not merely a religion. In this view, those who leave Judaism by converting to another religion are still seen as Jewish people; however, they are seen as apostates who by their actions have chosen to remove themselves from the Judaic religion.
Classical interpretations
According to traditional Jewish law, Jewishness is determined by the mother; thus the immediate male descendants of a female Jewish apostate are still considered Jewish; all her female descendants, but only in an unbroken female line of descent, and their immediate male children are also considered Jewish. While most of these descendants probably would not be practicing Judaism, or in many cases aware of their Jewishness, their status as Jews technically still would be in effect. As such, all Jewish denominations welcome the return of any of these people back to the Jewish community; such people would be considered Jews in good standing without the need for a formal conversion. Generally, people who have been raised as non-Jews (gentiles) would be expected to make some sort of public sign that they are returning to Judaism, for instance engaging in a course in Jewish Torah education, joining a synagogue, observing the Jewish Shabbat (Sabbath), the Jewish Festivals, keeping kosher, commencing "Family Purity" or niddah, having an adult "Bar Mitzvah" ceremony, and anything else they should try to observe. If not circumcised, males are required to have a brit milah (ritual circumcision).
Note that "circumcision" in the Jewish sense is not the medical procedure performed by a doctor but is a religious procedure performed by a mohel (also pronounced as mo'el).
Jewish peoplehood is not inherited from one's Jewish father alone, even if he were not an apostate from Judaism. This traditional rabbinic view is still held by many in the return-to-tradition wing of Reform, and by all of Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism.
Conversion to Judaism
Traditional views
The laws of conversion to Judaism are based in discussions in the Talmud; throughout history different Jewish communities have always agreed on the basic requirements, although minor details have varied from community to community. Specifics can be found in the responsa literature, and in the various codes of Jewish law. Whenever someone converts to Judaism their sponsoring rabbi has the role of a mara d'atra, local halakhic authority, who has within bounds, the final say in deciding how to apply and interpret Jewish law. A good summary of the process of conversion to Judaism can be found in the Shulchan Aruch, the classic 16th century code of Jewish law.
Not a proselytizing religion
Most authorities interpret Jewish law as forbidding proselytizing, or at least discouraging it. Any non-Jew who wishes to become a Jew is gently discouraged from doing so. Traditionally, a rabbi turns away a prospective convert three times. However, if the rabbi approached is convinced of the prospective convert's sincerity, then they will allow him or her to follow the process of conversion. This process requires that the convert be taught the basic laws and beliefs of Judaism. The convert must show an ability to keep the laws and make a commitment to keep them.
Mechanics of "conversion"
The conversion takes place in the presence of a beth din three-person court; the three may be rabbis, but in pressing circumstances some or all may be Jewish laypeople generally recognized in the local Jewish community as religiously observant and trustworthy. The court must give the convert a summary of the laws and the convert must undertake in the presence of the court to keep the laws.
If the convert is a man he must undergo ritual circumcision under the authority of a mohel, and for an adult male this is done in a hospital with the participation of a qualified surgeon and medical team. If he is already circumcised, he undergoes a symbolic circumcision in which a tiny drop of blood is drawn. The convert then immerses himself or herself in a mikvah (ritual bath of pure water) in the presence of the court. If the convert is a woman, she immerses herself, in a standing position, in the presence of women, leaving her head above the water. The court then witnesses the immersion of the head from another room. (This fulfills two goals: (1) the immersion of the head---and therefore the whole body---is witnessed by the court and (2) the privacy and modesty of the woman is protected.)
Upon immersion, the convert becomes a full-fledged Jew. He or she is from that moment onward required to keep the laws of Judaism; according to classical Jewish theology, a convert will get an additional heavenly reward for doing so, yet can incur heavenly punishment if he or she fails to keep them.
Conversion in Reform Judaism
These rules of conversion to Judaism are still followed by Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism, and by some of Reform Judaism outside of the USA. However, Reform Judaism within the USA no longer follows these rules. The Central Conference of American Rabbis (the official body of American Reform rabbis) formally resolved to permit the admission of converts "without any initiatory rite, ceremony, or observance whatever." (CCAR Yearbook 3 (1893), 73-95; American Reform Responsa, no. 68, at 236-237.)
Although this resolution has been examined critically by some Reform rabbis, the resolution still remains the official policy of American Reform Judaism (CCAR Responsa Circumcision for an Eight-Year-Old Convert 5756.13, and Solomon B. Freehof, Reform Responsa for Our Time, no. 15.) Thus, American Reform Judaism does not require ritual immersion in a mikveh, circumcision, acceptance of any part of Jewish law as normative, the appearance before a rabbinical court, or a minimal course of Jewish study. As such, their conversions are generally rejected by non-Reform Jews.
Recognition of converts between denominations
Converts who have undergone non-Orthodox conversions will find that many Jews will not marry them or their children. Orthodox Jews generally accept the validity of most Orthodox conversions to Judaism, but reject the validity of most Conservative conversions, and reject the validity of all Reform and Reconstructionist conversions. Even among Orthodox Jews, disputes sometimes arise.
Conservative Jews accept the validity of all Orthodox and Conservative conversions to Judaism; they are willing to accept the validity of individual Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism conversions if those cases are carried out in accord with Jewish law; however, these are examined on a case by case basis.
Orthodox Jews believe that Jewish Law was handed down thousands of years ago, and is immutable, while Reform Jews believe that Jewish law is a living set of rules that are applied in the context of current civilization. Reform and Reconstructionist Jews interpret Jewish law so as to accept the validity of conversions to Judaism from all Jewish denominations.
It is sometimes not made clear to converts that their conversions would not be accepted by all Jewish groups. This can lead to circumstances when a Rabbi will not agree to let somebody who thought he was Jewish marry until he undergoes a new conversion. In the case of a woman who underwent a less stringent conversion, those who require a more stringent conversion would consider her and all her children non-Jewish until they undergo the more stringent conversion.
Arguments against conversions
In addition, the more stringent accuse the less stringent of causing intermarriage and the deterioration of the Jewish people, as they are watering down what it means to be a Jew, and making it easier for people to leave Judaism by allowing them to easily join non-Jewish families. The less stringent note that Jewish descent in the Bible appears to have been patrilineal, that modern DNA testing can remove doubts about paternity, that Judaism is no longer an ancient tribal religion and should model its conversion procedures on modern faith communities, that the more stringent discourage sincere conversions to a religion and people decimated by generations of oppression, and that stringent conversion procedures discourage non-Jewish romantic partners of Jews from joining the Jewish people.
"Jew" in Israel and Israeli law
The State of Israel allows any Jew to acquire citizenship; this is known as the Law of Return for population groups in Israel. For the purposes of the Law of Return, anyone with a Jewish grandparent or who converted to Judaism is considered Jewish, and Israeli law also allows the immediate non-Jewish family of immigrants to immigrate under the law. This definition is not the same as that in traditional Jewish law; it is a deliberately wider, so as to include those non-Jewish relatives of Jews who were perceived to be Jewish, and thus faced anti-Semitism.
Many secular Israelis consider themselves to be "Israeli" enjoying a new Israeli culture and reject the title "Jew" as derived from Jewish religious law (Halacha). They assert that one who is devoted to Zionism, believes and lives in the modern State of Israel, serves in the Israel Defense Force, and works for the Ingathering of the Exiles from the diaspora, is "the real Jew". According to this re-definition, even a gentile who meets these criteria can be an "Israeli". They scorn the older generation of European Jews who they believe went "like sheep to the slaughter" during the Holocaust and berate them for having a "galut (Exile) mentality". They have a particular dislike for Haredi Jews whom they regard as "old fashioned" and a relic of the Middle Ages, and whom they accuse of "religious coercion". This is part of an ongoing kulturkampf (cultural divide) in Israeli politics.
Ancient Israelites
Historical geography
The first two periods of the history of the Jews is mainly that of Palestine or Judea. It begins among those peoples of Syria which occupied the area lying between the Nile river on the one side and the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers on the other. Surrounded by ancient seats of culture in Egypt and Babylonia, by the mysterious deserts of Arabia, and by the highlands of Asia Minor, the land of Canaan later Judea, then Palestine, then Israel, was a meeting place of civilizations. The land was traversed by old-established trade routes and possessed important harbors on the Gulf of Akaba and on the Mediterranean coast, the latter exposing it to the influence of the Levantine culture.
Kingdoms of Israel and Judah
Jews descend mostly from the ancient Israelites (also known as Hebrews), who settled in the Land of Israel. The Israelites traced their common lineage to the biblical patriarch Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. A kingdom was established under Saul and continued under King David and Solomon. King David conquered Jerusalem (first a Canaanite, then a Jebusite town) and made it his capital. After Solomon's reign the nation split into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel (in the north) and the Kingdom of Judah (in the south). The Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrian ruler Shalmaneser V in the 8th century BC. The Kingdom of Judah was conquered by a Babylonian army in the early 6th century BC. The Judahite elite was exiled to Babylonia, but later at least a part of them returned to their homeland after the subsequent conquest of Babylonia by the Persians.
Persian, Greek, and Roman rule
The Seleucid Kingdom, which arose after the Persians were defeated by Alexander the Great, sought to introduce Greek culture into the Persian world. When the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, supported by Hellenized Jews (those who had adopted Greek culture), attempted to convert the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem to Zeus, the non-Hellenized Jews revolted under the leadership of the Maccabees and rededicated the Temple to the Jewish God (hence the origins of Hanukah) and created an independent Jewish kingdom known as the Hasmonaean Dynasty which lasted from 165 BCE to 63 BCE. This was followed by a period of Roman rule. In 66 CE, the Judeans began to revolt against the Roman rulers. The revolt was smashed by the Roman emperors Vespasian and Titus Flavius. In Rome the Arch of Titus still stands, depicting the enslaved Judeans and the menorah with trumpets being brought to Rome:
The Romans destroyed Jerusalem, all but a single "Western Wall" of the Temple in Jerusalem remained. The Roman legions pillaged and burned the city and stole the holy menorah and much more. The Judeans continued to live in their land in significant numbers, and were allowed to practice their religion, until the 2nd century when Hadrian ravaged Judea while putting down the bar Kokhba revolt. After 135, Jews were not allowed to enter the city of Jerusalem, although this ban must have been at least partially lifted, since at the destruction of the rebuilt city by the Persians in the 7th century, Jews are said to have lived there.
Roman exile
Many of the ancient Jews were sold into slavery while others became citizens of other parts of the Roman Empire. This is the traditional explanation to the diaspora. Some secular historians speculate that a majority of the Jews in Antiquity were most likely descendants of converts in the cities of the Graeco-Roman world, especially in Alexandria and Asia Minor, and were only affected by the diaspora in its spiritual sense, as the sense of loss and homelessness which became a cornerstone of the Jewish creed, much supported by persecutions in various parts of the world. The policy of conversion, which spread the Jewish religion throughout the Hellenistic civilization, seems to have ended with the wars against the Romans and the following reconstruction of Jewish values for the post-Temple era. This latter view is not accepted by any past or present rabbinical or Talmudical scholars, who believe that Jews are almost exclusively biological descendants of the Judean exiles.
International scope
Before the rise of Islam the Jews inhabited the entire Roman empire; with the Arab expansion, some of them would move as far as India and China. Some Jewish people are also descended from converts to Judaism outside the Mediterranean world. While the Avars' Hebrew origins/conversion debate continues, it is known that some Khazars, Edomites, and Ethiopians, as well as many Arabs, particularly in Yemen earlier, converted to Judaism in the past; today in the United States and Israel gentiles still convert to Judaism. In fact, there is a greater tradition of conversion to Judaism than many people realize. The word "proselyte" originally meant a Greek who had converted to Judaism. As late as the 6th century the rump Roman empire (i.e. Byzantium) was issuing decrees against conversion to Judaism, implying that conversion to Judaism was still occurring.
Ethnic divisions
Common terms
The commonly-used terms Ashkenazi (meaning "German" in Hebrew, denoting the Central European base of Jewry), and Sephardic (meaning "Spanish" in Hebrew, denoting their Spanish and North African location), refer both to a religious and an ethnic division. Some scholars hold that Ashkenazi Jews are descendants of those who originally followed the Palestinian Jewish religious tradition, and Sephardic Jews are descendants of those who originally followed the Babylonian religious tradition.
Jews have historically been divided into four major ethnic groups:
- Ashkenazi (Jews who lived in Germany or France before migrating to Eastern Europe)
- Sephardic (Jews who lived in Spain or Portugal)
- Oriental Jews (edut hamizrach in Hebrew) (Jews who lived in the Middle East and North Africa, but later spread to Central Asia and South Asia). Note that in common usage, most Oriental Jews are called Sephardic, as the religious rites of Oriental Jews and Sephardic Jews is essentially the same.
- The Yemenite Jews (also known as Teimanim ). These are Oriental Jews whose geographical and social isolation from the rest of the Jewish community allowed them to develop a liturgy and set of practices sufficiently distinct from other Oriental Jewish groups so as to be recognized as a different group.
Smaller groups of Jews include the following:
- the Ethiopian Jews, also known as the Falasha or Beta Israel.
- the Bene Israel, i.e. Jews who lived in Bombay, India.
- The Cochin Jews, also living in India
- The Romaniotes, i.e. Greek speaking Jews living in the Balkans from the Hellenistic era until today (almost 6,000 people worldwide)
Communities
Yiddish was the traditional language of the Ashkenazi, whereas Ladino (Judeo-Portuguese) was that of the Sephardim. Most Oriental Jews spoke Arabic, but others spoke Aramaic or Persian.
Following the Spanish Inquisition, the Sephardic Jews were dispersed, some migrating to Europe, where they were assimilated into the Ashkenazi, others migrating to the Middle East where they were assimilated into the Oriental Jews. Most Oriental Jews practice Sephardic rite and are therefore sometimes referred to as Sephardic. Ashkenazi Jews practice Ashkenazi rite.
Out of these communities, the largest by far are the Ashkenazim, comprising ~80% of the Jewish total, with Oriental Jews comprising most of the remainder.
Sub-groups of Jews include the Gruzim (Georgian Jews from the Caucasus), Juhurim (Mountain Jews mainly from Daghestan in the eastern Caucasus), Maghrebim (North African Jews), and Abayudaya (Ugandan Jews)
Ancient schisms among the Jews
First Temple era
Based on the historical narrative in the Bible and archeology, civilization at the time was prone to idol worship, astrology, worship of reigning kings, and paganism. This was in direct contrast to the teachings in the Torah, and was condemned by the ancient Biblical prophets who attacked those who became idol worshipers. The split by the Kingdom of Israel from the Kingdom of Judah was completed by Jeraboam who crowned himself king, and built a northern temple with calf-like idol images. After the destruction and exile of the northern Kingdom of Israel by Assyria, the temptations to follow non-Judaic practices continued, so that according to the narratives of Jeremiah and others, it brought about the failure, destruction, and exile of the southern Kingdom of Judah by Babylonia.
Second Temple era
This was a time when the Jews lived under Persian, Greek, and Roman power and influence. The main struggles during this era were between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, as well as the Essenes and Zealots. The Pharisees wanted to maintain the authority and traditions of classical Torah teachings and began the early teachings of the Mishna, maintaining the authority of the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish court. The Sadducees sought to adapt to more Hellenistic ideas, as espoused by Philo of Egypt. The Essenes preached a reclusive way of life. The Zealots advocated armed rebellion against any foreign power such as Rome. All were at violent logger-heads with each other, leading to the confusion and disunity that ended with the destruction of the Jewish Temple and the sacking of Jerusalem by Rome.
Rabbinical Jews vs. Karaites
Almost all Jews today are "Rabbinical Jews" following from the Pharisees, who follow Judaism through the lens of the oral law, contained in the Mishnah and Talmud. A miniscule group known as the Karaites still exists. They accept the whole of the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, but reject the teachings in the later Mishnah and Talmud. As a result, the Karaites do not accept the Talmud's prohibition against eating milk and meat together. Most Jews do not consider Karaites to be Jewish at all.
Break-offs: Samaritans and Christians
One small sect of Samaritans is still extant; however, their religion is not the same as rabbinic Judaism. The Samaritan faith and that of other Jews diverged over a millennium ago; Samaritans do not consider themselves, nor call themselves, Jews. Of course, the most famous schism in Jewish history was the split between the followers of Jesus (who were known as Notzrim or Nazarenes) with the claim by his disciples that he was the long-awaited Jewish Messiah, and the majority Pharisees (the rabbinically led Jews) who rejected him 2,000 years ago and still do so until the present time. The abandonment of Jewish Law and the subsequent deification of Jesus by early Church leaders, by for example Paul of Tarsus and the publication of the New Testament, ensured that Christianity and Judaism would became completely different and often conflicting religions.
Sabbatians
In 1666 Shabtai Tzvi declared himself to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah whilst living in the Ottoman Empire. Vast numbers of Jews believed him; but when under pain of a death sentence he became an apostate to Judaism by becoming a Moslem, his movement crumbled. Nevertheless, for centuries, small groups of Jews believed in him, and the rabbis were always on guard against any manifestations of this schism. Groups of Jews who converted to Islam also became clandestine followers of Zevi; these Jews being known as the Donmeh. Jewish converts were, at times, therefore regarded with great suspicion by their fellow Moslems.
Leadership
Religious
Traditionally only the greatest scholars of the Torah and Talmud rise to become the spiritual and even temporal leaders of the Jewish people. This requires deep study of the Talmud and the Shulkhan Arukh Code of Jewish Law as well as many other classical texts of Jewish scholarship. Normally, one must study many years in a Yeshiva to become a rabbi. Synagogues are led by rabbis meaning "great ones or teachers". In many synagogues there is a hazzan (cantor) that leads many parts of the prayer service. Many Sephardic rabbinic Jewish communities refer to their leaders as hakham. Among Yemenite Jews, known as Teimanin, the term mori (teacher) is used.
Secular
Following the Renaissance and the Enlightenment in Europe (with its Jewish "extension" the Haskalah movement, which led to much modern-day assimilation into the cultures of their native countries), most Jews dropped much of Judaism. Many even became Christians, and adopted secular values and life-styles. Thus most modern Jewish communities are guided by secular leaders who may not be religiously knowledgeable or observant at all.
Karaite
The spiritual leader of a Karaite community is often called a hakham.
World population
Pre- and post-Holocaust
Prior to World War II the world population of Jews was around 18 million. The Holocaust reduced this number to around 12 million. Today, there are an estimated 14 million Jews worldwide in over 134 countries. Of these, around 5.8 million live in the United States and 5 million live in Israel. Most of the remainder live in Canada, Hungary, Ukraine, France, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, Russia and Germany, including 2.4 million in Europe. At the moment, an increasing number of Russian Jews are emigrating to Germany.
More than 500,000 Jews live in Latin America. Nearly half of them live in Argentina, while large communities also exist in Brazil (about 120,000) and Mexico (about 50,000).
Israel
Israel is the only country in which Jews form a majority of the population. It was established as an independent state on May 14, 1948. The symbol on the Israeli flag is known as the Star of David (Magen David in Hebrew).
Famous ethnic Jews
Despite the small number of Jews worldwide, many influential thinkers and leaders in modern times have been ethnically Jewish. The list of famous Jews includes Moses Maimonides (rabbi and philosopher), Baruch Spinoza (philosopher), Karl Marx (founder of Marxism, parents converted to Christianity when he was young), Benjamin Disraeli (baptised by parents into Anglican Church, British Prime Minister), Leon Trotsky (creator of the Russian Red Army and philosopher), Sigmund Freud (father of psychoanalysis), Albert Einstein (formulated "e=mc²" theory of relativity behind atomic energy), Haym Solomon (financier of the American Revolution), Edward Teller (father of the hydrogen bomb), Theodor Herzl (founder of modern secular Zionism), Ludwig von Mises (economist), Ayn Rand (writer), Noam Chomsky (philosopher), Hyman Rickover (admiral, father of US nuclear navy), David BenGurion (founding Prime Minister of State of Israel), Henry Kissinger (US Secretary of State), Milton Friedman (economist), Kirk Douglas (movie actor), Steven Spielberg (movie producer), Michael Bloomberg (billionare financier and New York City mayor), and Andrew Grove (co-founder and chairman of Intel).
Persecution
Nazism
Modern persecution of the Jews reached its peak under the Nazis from 1933 to 1945. The Nazis, who thought of themselves as a "Master Race", considered the Jews inferior and subhuman. Upon capturing most of the European mainland, and in accordance with its Wannsee Conference, Nazi Germany built concentration camps designed to kill Jews for the mere "sin" of being born ethnically Jewish. Over 6,000,000 Jews perished. Even Jews who had long assimilated and had been baptized into Christianity were not spared. These racist laws were embodied in the Nuremberg Laws specifically designed to discriminate against Jews. With the defeat of the Axis Powers by the Allied Nations, many high German officials were punished by the Nuremberg Trials and Germany paid reparations to Holocaust survivors and to the State of Israel.
Soviet Union
The former Communist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics also instigated a policy banning Jewish religious life completely, and executed and banned many Jews to Siberia to suffer and die. Even though many of the original Bolsheviks were ethnically Jewish they sought to uproot Judaism and even established the Yevsektsiya to do so. Prior to his demise in 1953 Joseph Stalin issued orders for the deportation and persecution of Russia's Jews. Following his death, secular Russian Jews who knew only of their ethnic origins began to rediscover their cultural and religious roots and began to fight for the rights of Jews to practice their religion, adopt Zionism and to leave Russia which was unheard of at that time. They were persecuted and became known as Refuseniks, such as Anatoly Scharansky, until the fall of the Soviet Union opened the gates of freedom for Jews to leave Russia.
Christian
Christianity, which owes its origins and theology to Jewish teachings about the Messiah, has long had an ambiguous relationship with Judaism, giving rise to Christianity and anti-Semitism. Christians had difficulty with the Jews' claim as the "chosen people" of God, and they were seen as having contributed to Jesus' demise. In medieval Europe, many notorious persecutions of Jews in the name of Christianity occurred, notably during the Crusades - when Jews all over Germany were massacred - and in the Spanish Inquisition, when the entire Jewish population that refused to baptise was expelled and found refuge mainly in the Ottoman Empire and the Low Countries. Until the end of Tsarist times in Russia, Jews were restricted to the Jewish Pale of Settlement and subjected to frequent pogroms. On the other hand, in the 16th century, the Council of Trent (article 4) declared that the Jews were no more responsible for death of Christ than Christians, and this was later reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council.
Arab and Islamic
Islam and Judaism have a complex relationship. Jews have generally enjoyed the benefits of "protected" Dhimmi status under Islam; yet the political conflict between Muhammad and the Jews of Madina in the seventh century left ample ideological fuel for Islam and anti-Semitism through the centuries. During the Middle Ages, Jews had a better status in the Muslim world than in Christendom, though still short of full equality with Muslims. During the Holocaust the Middle East was in turmoil: in Egypt, with a Jewish population of 75,000, Anwar Sadat was imprisoned for conspiring with the Nazis to bring independence from Britain; the British-appointed Mufti of Jerusalem was in Berlin supporting Hitler; a coup briefly brought a pro-Axis government to power in Iraq terrifying Iraq's Jews; and the Jewish Stern Gang assassinated Lord Moyne for closing Palestine to Jewish immigration. The tensions of the Arab-Israeli conflict was also a factor in the rise of animosity to Jews all over the Middle East, as hundreds of thousands of Jews fled as refugees, the main waves being soon after the 1948 and 1956 wars. The vast majority of the Jews of Iraq fled in 1952.
The Jewish community today
Europe's largest Jewish community can be found in France, home to 600,000 Jews, most immigrants or refugees from Arab lands such as Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.
The fastest-growing Jewish community in the world, outside of Israel, is in Germany, especially in its capital Berlin. Tens of thousands of Jews from the former Eastern Bloc have settled in Germany since the fall of the Berlin wall. Some factors that make Germany amenable: A cosmopolitan atmosphere; a welcoming, liberal, post-war education; and the political freedoms garnered since the 1960s have created an atmosphere of tolerance in Germany which is still missing in some post-communist states. Also, speaking Yiddish, it's often more easy to learn German than other languages like Hebrew, English or French for Jews from Eastern Europe.
The German Jews are organized in two organisations, the Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland, which have around 100,000 members, and the liberal Union progressiver Juden in Deutschland. However, there are also many secular Jews who do not belong to any organisation or synagogue.
Decrease and growth
Both persecution and assimilation have resulted in small Jewish numbers vis-a-vis the world's population.
Wars against the Jews
Many empires and rulers have sought to "liquidate" the Jews through wars of destruction, extinction, genocide, expulsions, exiles, and torture. Some examples are: the Great Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire as described by Josephus; the Spanish Inquisition led by Torquamada and the Auto de fe against the Marrano Jews; the Bohdan Chmielnicki Cossack massacres in the Ukraine; the Pogroms by the Russian Czars; Adolf Hitler's Final Solution which lead to the Holocaust and the World War II atrocities in Poland and elsewhere; and modern wars and Jihad via "suicide bombing" against Israel and its Jewish citizens.
Assimilation
Secular Jews tend to marry late and have smaller families with wide acceptance of birth control. When granted political, economic and religious freedom, many Jews, probably the majority, choose to adopt the ways and religions of their host nations, abandoning many vestiges of their own ethnicity and religion, and then frequently choose to marry non-Jews when living outside of Israel. In the United States, the National Jewish Population Survey has shown that over 50%, and as high as 75% according to some calculations, of America's Jews presently marry non-Jewish partners. These figures are probably also true for the Jews of Europe today. Most non-Jewish spouses do not convert to Judaism, surveys show. This phenomenon is known as "intermarriage" and is the leading cause for the shrinkage of almost all Jewish populations in Western countries since World War Two.
Growth
Only in the State of Israel have secular Jews increased due to natural growth and immigration, and both Orthodox Jews and Ultra-Orthodox Jews, who shun birth control for religious reasons, have increased due to their large families. The Reform Judaism movement has officially launched an "outreach" effort to bring in not only the non-Jewish spouses of Jews, but to actively seek new members for the faith. There is also a growing movement of Jews by Choice by gentiles who make the decision to head in the direction of becoming Jews.
Internal links
Jewish history
- Jewish history timeline
- History of the Jews in Poland
- History of Jews in the United States
- History of the Jews in Russia and Soviet Union
External links
Photos
General
- Jewish Nobel Prize Laureates
- Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS (Russia)
- Communaute Online: France
- Jewish Argentina
Major secular organizations
- Anti-Defamation League
- Board of Deputies of British Jews
- American Jewish Committee: Advancing Pluralism and Democracy
- United Jewish Communities: The Federations of North America
- American Jewish Congress
- Jewish Student Organizations
Zionist and Israeli institutions
Orthodox
Reform
Conservative
- United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
- Jewish Theological Seminary of America
- Solomon Schechter Day School Association